My first dream as a child was to become a pilot. My second dream was to become an astronomer, and I pursued in parallel efforts and studies in these two areas.

Claude Nicollier (born 2 September 1944 in Vevey Switzerland) is the first astronaut from Switzerland and has flown on four Space Shuttle missions. He took part in two servicing missions to the Hubble Space Telescope (called STS-61 and STS-103). Nicollier retired from ESA in April 2007.